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Last November, James Gunn cast Skyler Gisondon as the Dcu's Jimmy Olsen in Superman. However, he's not the only actor to have recently been picked to play the Man of Steel's best pal, as Douglas Smith will show up as the beloved Daily Planet photographer in Superman & Lois' final season.

This version of the character has previously been described as an "extroverted 20-something" known for being "the 'life of the party' around the office." The site adds, "Despite being work colleagues with Clark, he’s been unable to get him out of his 'awkward' shell. Unaware of Clark’s super-secret, Jimmy’s still determined to become his pal."

In a clip from episode 7 - titled "A Regular Guy" - we see an enthusiastic Jimmy attempt to befriend Clark Kent ahead of a softball game. However, he doesn't have much luck given the hero's reluctance to risk revealing his powers to the world.

Six top production designers will reveal secrets behind their projects when they join Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” Q&a event with TV awards contenders. They will participate in two video discussions to premiere on Tuesday, November 12, at 4:00 p.m. Pt; 7:00 p.m. Et. We’ll have a one-on-one with our senior editor Matt Noble and a roundtable chat with all of the group together.

RSVP today to our entire ongoing contenders panel series by clicking here to book your free reservation. We’ll send you a reminder a few minutes before the start of the show.

The Boys

Synopsis: A group of vigilantes set out to take down corrupt superheroes who abuse their superpowers.

Bio: Mark Steel was an Emmy nominee for “The Umbrella Academy.” Other projects have included “Star Trek: Discovery,” “Locke and Key,” and “Son of a Critch.”

Doctor Odyssey

Synopsis: Max is...

As HBO's Lanterns series continues to round out its supporting cast, the latest addition is an actor who has played numerous memorable roles over the years, Garret Dillahunt.

According to Deadline, Dillahunt will play a villain, but his character doesn't appear to be anyone we might know from the comics.

Described as a "modern cowboy," William Macon is a "a self-righteous, conspiracy-minded man who masks his ruthless ambition behind a charming and calculated facade."

Dillahunt has a lot of experience playing villains, with appearances in the likes of The Last House on the Left, Looper, and HBO's Deadwood, in which he played two completely different characters (really three if you count his cameo in the movie).

Dillahunt joins the recently cast Kelly Macdonald as Sheriff Kerry, Aaron Pierre (Rebel Ridge) as John Stewart and Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights) as Hal Jordan.

Nexus Point News first reported that Dillahunt was in talks,...

Confirming a recent casting rumor, the trades are reporting that Kelly Macdonald has now officially signed on for a supporting role in HBO's Lanterns series.

We had heard that the Scottish actress - who has appeared in the likes of Trainspotting, No Country for Old Men and Boardwalk Empire - was up for the role of Hal Jordan's love-interest, which led to speculation that she might be playing Star Sapphire.

While her character is expected to become romantically involved with Jordan, she doesn't appear to be playing an established DC Comics hero or villain.

According to THR, Macdonald will play Sheriff Kerry, "a no-nonsense woman deeply devoted to her family and close-knit town. Her resilience, shaped by a complex past that’s hardened her resolve, anchors her when the community’s secrets begin to surface."

Macdonald joins Aaron Pierre (Rebel Ridge) as John Stewart and Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights) as Hal Jordan.

We recently got word that Aaron Pierre (Rebel Ridge) had landed the role of John Stewart in the upcoming Dcu Lanterns series, with Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights) officially confirmed to star as Hal Jordan around the same time.

Now, 21x4 has shared some impressive fan-art which may give us an idea of how Pierre and Chandler will look as the rookie ring-slinging hero and the Green Lantern Corps veteran who will become his reluctant mentor.

Pierre was always a fan-favorite pick to play Stewart, but we had heard that fellow frontrunner Stephan James (Babes) was the studio's top choice. We do know that Josh Brolin (and several other A-list actors if reports are to be believed) was offered the role of Jordan, and fans don't seem to have warmed to the idea of Chandler suiting-up as the character just yet.

Check out the artwork at the links below.

Aaron Pierre Is John Stewart.

Truth or Dare‘s Cassandra Scerbo, John Wick actor Adrianne Palicki, Hostile‘s Q’orianka Kilcher and Braveheart‘s Angus Macfadyen have boarded The Wolf and the Lamb, a folk horror/thriller from writer and director Michael Schilf.

The genre pic takes place during the western expansion of the 1870s and is shooting in Montana. Scerbo plays a widowed school teacher searching for her only son, played by Jaydon Clark (The Rookie), who is the latest child to go missing in a tight-knit mining camp. But when the son miraculously returns, he is more monster than man.

Scerbo is known for playing Nova Clark in the Sharknado film series and appearances on the Grand Hotel and Guerrila TV series. Friday Night Lights alum Palicki is also known for turns on ABC’s Marvel drama Agents of Shield and Seth MacFarlane’s Fox dramedy The Orville.

Kilcher’s big break came at...

Last we heard, Rebel Ridge star Aaron Pierre and The Piano Lesson actor Stephan James were the top contenders to land the role of John Stewart in the Dcu Lanterns series, and a frontrunner has reportedly emerged.

According to Jeff Sneider in his latest newsletter, James now looks likely to land the part of the younger ring-slinging hero opposite Kyle Chandler as veteran Green Lantern, Hal Jordan.

Though an offer hasn't been officially made, Sneider believes that DC Studios co-head James Gunn and Lanterns showrunners/EPs Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof and Tom King are all "leaning towards James." If accurate, we can expect the trades to make an announcement fairly soon.

We recently learned that James Hawes will helm the first two episodes.

He joins a creative team that includes Emmy Award-winning Lost and Watchmen creator Damon Lindelof, Ozark showrunner Chris Mundy and comic book writer Tom King. Justin Britt-Gibson,...

It takes more than a village to make a movie; it’s more like a small army. And in the case of “The Franchise,” that army has a lot of faces you’ll recognize.

Streaming on Max and airing on HBO on Sundays, the comedy series tells the story of a film crew working to put together the next installment in a major (fictional) superhero franchise. Along the way, they run into the many hurdles of Hollywood, with the show lovingly poking fun at how real superhero films seem to be made.

Like we said, you’re going to see a lot of familiar actors, some of whom have actually starred in real-life franchises. We’ve rounded them up for you below.

Here’s who’s who in “The Franchise.”

Colin Hutton/HBO Daniel (Himesh Patel)

Daniel is the First Ad on the fictional movie “Tecto,” and he basically keeps things afloat in the series.

An intense psychological journey back to 1896 New York City is in store with the arrival of The Alienist Seasons 1 & 2 on U. This high quality series stars Daniel Bruhl as Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, a criminal psychologist, Luke Evans as newspaper illustrator John Moore, and Dakota Fanning as Sara Howard, a determined secretary […]

The Alienist Seasons 1 & 2 Streaming on U from Thursday 10 October 2024...

We had heard that Stephen Williams was in negotiations to direct the Lanterns pilot, but if this was accurate, talks evidently fell through.

THR is reporting that James Hawes has been tapped to helm the first two episodes of the upcoming Dcu series.

Hawes is a British director who has helmed several episodes of Apple TV+'s acclaimed Slow Horses. He has also worked on Showtime’s Penny Dreadful, Spike TV’s The Mist, The Alienist, AMC’s Snowpiercer, and Black Mirror.

He joins a creative team that includes Emmy Award-winning Lost and Watchmen creator Damon Lindelof, Ozark showrunner Chris Mundy and comic book writer Tom King. Justin Britt-Gibson, Breannah Gibson and Vanessa Baden Kelly are also said to be on board.

Lanterns "follows new recruit John Stewart and Lantern legend Hal Jordan, two intergalactic cops drawn into a dark, earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland.

Per THR, DC Studios and HBO have tapped James Hawes to serve as the director of the first two episodes of Lanterns. Hawes is a prolific TV director, having helmed episodes of Black Mirror, Penny Dreadful, Doctor Who, The Alienist, Snowpiercer, Raised by Wolves, and Slow Horses. He also recently made his feature directorial debut with One Life, a biopic starring Anthony Hopkins as Nicholas Winton, who helped save hundreds of children during World War II.

The live-action Green Lantern series is said to have a True Detective vibe as it “follows new recruit John Stewart and Lantern legend Hal Jordan, two intergalactic cops drawn into a dark, earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland.” Kyle Chandler was recently set to star as Hal Jordan. Aaron Pierre (Rebel Ridge) and Stephan James (Homecoming) are the top choices for John Stewart, with THR stating that screen tests are happening right now.

A director for the DC Studios and HBO’s much-ballyhooed series Lanterns has been found.

James Hawes, an established TV helmer who most recently directed a string of episodes of the Gary Oldman spy series Slow Horses, has been tapped to helm the first two episodes of the sci-fi cop series.

Lanterns is said to have a gritty, True Detective vibe and follows Hal Jordan, a legend amongst the space police force known as the Green Lanterns, as he reluctantly mentors a younger Green Lantern, John Stewart. The two intergalactic cops get drawn into a dark, Earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland.

The show is in the midst of casting the final of its two leads. Kyle Chandler is set to star as the classic and long-running Lantern Jordan. HBO and DC have narrowed down the search for Stewart to Rebel Ridge star Aaron Pierre...

Prime Video has officially ordered two seasons of Scarpetta, more than 18 months after Nicole Kidman’s name was first attached to the series adaptation of Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta novels.

Kidman will indeed headline the mystery-thriller as medical examiner Kay Scarpetta, who returns to Virginia, and her former job, amid complex personal and professional relationships — including the one with her sister, Dorothy, to be played by recent Emmy winner Jamie Lee Curtis.

More from TVLineBrian Williams to Host Election Night Special on Prime Video (Report)Ratings: 9-1-1 Returns Bigger, Doctor Odyssey Gives ABC a 5-Year High, Tnf Makes HistoryRoboCop TV Series Names Showrunner,...

HBO’s upcoming comedy The Franchise is taking us behind the messy curtain of a superhero film gone wrong, and it all flies into action Sunday, Oct. 6 at 10/9c.

According to its official description, the eight-episode series “follows the crew of an unloved franchise movie fighting for their place in a savage and unruly cinematic universe. The comedy series shines a light on the secret chaos inside the world of superhero moviemaking, to ask the question — how exactly does the cinematic sausage get made? Because every f–k-up has an origin story.”

More from TVLineTVLine Items: HBO Orders Rachel Sennott Comedy,...

Una bailarina descubre secretos oscuros en el edificio Bramford. © Paramount+

Paramount+ ha presentado el primer tráiler de Apartment 7A, precuela del clásico de terror de 1968 La semilla del diablo (Rosemary’s Baby), dirigida por Natalie Erika (Relic) a partir de un guion que ha escrito junto a Christian White y Skylar James.

Apartment 7A está ambientada en la ciudad de Nueva York en 1965 y sigue a Terry Gionoffrio, una joven bailarina ambiciosa que, tras una devastadora lesión, encuentra refugio en el lujoso edificio de apartamentos Bramford, acogida por una pareja mayor y adinerada. Después de que un productor de Broadway le ofrezca un camino hacia la fama, Terry pasa una noche que no recuerda bien y sospecha que algo maligno habita en su apartamento y en el propio edificio.

La película está protagonizada por Julia Garner (Ozark) junto a Dianne Wiest (Una jaula de grillos), Kevin McNally (Piratas del Caribe: La maldición de la Perla Negra...

Paramount Television Studios (Ptvs) is shutting down after 11 years as Paramount Global began the latest round of cost-cutting on Tuesday ahead of the expected merger with Skydance Media.

The news came as Paramount Global leadership began scheduled lay-offs affecting 15% of the US-based workforce, or approximately 2,000 positions, which co-CEOs George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins announced in last week’s earnings call.

The company is looking to make $500m in cuts and laid off approximately 800 staff in February.

The closure of Ptvs comes amid industry-wide challenges to linear television. Leadership will also have pored over likely synergies with David Ellison’s Skydance Media,...

The Paramount Pictures lot in Southern California. (Photo by Patrick Pelster via Wikimedia Commons)

Paramount Global is doing away with its Paramount Television Studios (Ptvs) business and will move all projects over to CBS Studios as part of broader cost cuts at the company.

Ptvs is expected to be fully shut down by Friday, according to memos penned by high-level executives that were sent to employees on Tuesday, a move that will impact series like “Reacher,” “Time Bandits” and the television adaptation of “Interview with the Vampire.” All three of the series are developed by Paramount but distributed by other broadcasters.

“As you’re all aware, Paramount Global has made the difficult decision to close Paramount Television Studios as part of the company’s broader restructuring plans,” Nicole Clemens, the President of Ptvs, said in a memo to employees. “This has been a challenging and transformative time for the entire industry,...

Paramount Television Studios, which has produced shows such as “Reacher” on Amazon Prime Video, Showtime’s “A Gentleman in Moscow,” HBO’s “Station Eleven,” the “Sonic” spinoff “Knuckles,” the series remake of “Fatal Attraction,” and more, is shutting down amid layoffs and cost cuts at Paramount Global, IndieWire has learned.

Paramount is on Tuesday, August 13 beginning layoffs of up to 15 percent of its global workforce, with many of those coming from the U.S. and eliminating other redundant roles. The current Office of the CEO wants to find $500 million in cost-savings, and this is part of an overall $2 billion that new owner Skydance wants to make in cuts once the transaction to merge the two companies closes.

Paramount Television Studios has also had a hand in making series such as “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan” on Amazon Prime Video, “The Spiderwick Chronicles” on Roku, and most recently “Time Bandits” on...

There have been two major rounds of layoffs at Paramount Global this year, with Paramount Television Studios as a primary target in both. After its team was gutted in the February 13 cuts, as part of today’s reductions, the division is being shuttered altogether. It will cease operations after 11 years at the end of this week. Paramount TV Studios President Nicole Clemens and CBS President and CEO George Cheeks, who oversees the division, announced the decision in separate memos (You can read both below.)

Ftvs’ shutdown will result in the exit of 20-30 employees. All current Ptvs series and development projects will be folded into CBS Studios.

“To be clear, this is not a decision based on how Ptvs performed. This move is the result of significant changes in the TV and streaming marketplace and the need to streamline our company,” Cheeks said. “Under Nicole’s leadership, this studio consistently...

Paramount Global is shutting down its namesake TV studio as the company embarks on a major round of layoffs.

Paramount Television Studios will cease operations at the end of the week, president Nicole Clemens and Paramount co-ceo George Cheeks told staff Tuesday morning. Clemens will exit the company, and all current series and projects in development at Paramount TV Studios — including Reacher, Apple’s Time Bandits and the upcoming Cross at Prime Video — will move under the CBS Studios umbrella.

Paramount announced last week that it would lay off 15 percent of its U.S. employees — on top of about 800 layoffs six months ago — as part of an effort to save $500 million in costs ahead of a planned merger with Skydance. Cheeks and fellow CEOs Brian Robbins and Chris McCarthy told staff earlier Tuesday that layoffs would begin that day and take place in three phases over the remainder of the year.

Paramount Television Studios will cease operations by the end of the week, impacting about 20-30 individuals. The move is part of a long-term strategic plan being carried out by co-CEOs Brian Robbins, George Cheeks and Chris McCarthy.

Going forward, all current Ptvs series and development projects — such as Prime Video’s “Cross” and Apple TV+’s “Before” and “Murderbot” — will transition to CBS Studios.

“To be clear, this is not a decision based on how Ptvs performed. This move is the result of significant changes in the TV and streaming marketplace and the need to streamline our company,” Cheeks wrote in an internal memo to staff on Tuesday. “I want to thank Ptvs president Nicole Clemens and the talented team she built for the many signature hits they produced. Under Nicole’s leadership, this studio consistently punched above its weight in attracting top storytellers and stars to create best-in-class series.

Casting director Avy Kaufman admits even she was skeptical when Steven Zaillian asked her to come on board to cast “Ripley,” the Netflix limited series based on Patricia Highsmith’s classic novel “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” The story had already been adapted to screen, most notably in Anthony Minghella’s Oscar-nominated 1999 film.

“At first, I was wondering why Steve was doing this,” Kaufman says bluntly. “I’ve been lucky enough to work with him on many other projects, so I know how talented he is, but to reboot is really risky.” But the final product, which boasts 13 Emmy nominations, including a nod for casting, quelled any doubts. “It’s like a piece of art,” Kaufman raves. “I was really impressed. It tells so many different stories and gets inside the characters. I just think it’s a masterpiece.”

Kaufman first worked with Zaillian on his feature directorial debut, 1993’s “Searching for Bobby Fischer...

Emmy-nominated “Ripley” casting director Avy Kaufman was previously familiar with the Tom Ripley works by Patricia Highsmith and their adaptations. But “how clever of [writer-director Steven Zaillian] to extend it to the magical place he did … The way Steve presented it, the way he wrote it, the way he set it up, the way he outlined everything gave me and probably all the other creatives a different approach, a different look at it.” So she knew this “wasn’t going to be a remake of a remake of a remake.” Watch our exclusive video interview with Kaufman above.

The Netflix limited series follows the title character (Emmy nominee Andrew Scott), who is sent to Italy to convince rich failson Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn) to return to the United States. Instead, Ripley cons his way into the lives of Dickie and his partner Marge (Emmy nominee Dakota Fanning), and he’ll do...

Exclusive: Academy Award winner Ariana DeBose (West Side Story), Emmy Award winner Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Academy Award nominee Lakeith Stanfield (Judas and the Black Messiah), Emmy Award winner Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones), Chris Messina (Argo), Ted Levine (The Silence of the Lambs), Danny Huston (The Constant Gardener), Matthew Jacobs (Bar America), Rhys Coiro (Entourage) and Stephen Dorff (Blade) have joined Academy Award winners Al Pacino and Jessica Chastain in Bernard Rose’s Lear Rex, a film adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear.

Barry Navidi is the producer, marking his fifth collaboration with Pacino following The Merchant of Venice, Wilde Salomé, Salomé as well as this year’s Modi directed by Johnny Depp. Sharon Howard-Field, the film’s Casting Director, shares a long working history with Navidi. Navidi’s finance partners are Mattias Westman of Westman Films, Eco Entertainment, Dali Films and World Vision. CAA Media Finance...

TNT has had both great successes and big disappointments when it comes to their original scripted shows. Which of the current crop will be cancelled or renewed for another season? Stay tuned!

Scripted TNT shows listed: Agent X, The Alienist, Animal Kingdom, Claws, Dallas, Falling Skies, Franklin & Bash, Good Behavior, I Am the Night, The Last Ship, The Lazarus Project, Legends, The Librarians, Major Crimes, Murder in the First, Perception, Proof, Public Morals, Rizzoli & Isles, Snowpiercer, Transporter: The Series, and Will.

Last updated: Most recent ratings added for The Lazarus Project.

Read More…...

Apartment 7A, a prequel to the 1968 psychological horror film Rosemary’s Baby, has scared up a pre-Halloween release date, exclusively on Paramount+.

The Julia Garner-led flick will drop Friday, Sept. 27, the streamer announced Wednesday.

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Rosemary’s Baby, written and directed by Roman Polanski, starred Mia Farrow as Rosemary Woodhouse, a young newlywed who suspects her New York apartment...

During a roundtable interview at this year’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, where star Daniel Brühl is being feted with the Kviff President’s Award, the actor-director-producer recalled the “very bittersweet memories” of his directorial debut, the dark German comedy “Next Door,” being chosen for competition at the 71st Berlin International Film Festival, only for the festival to be held virtually that year. Three years later, as part of Kviff’s celebration of Brühl’s career, “Next Door” is set to screen at the Grand Hall, the festival’s premiere venue, with a proper in-person audience.

Inspired by an idea that came to him while dining in a restaurant in Spain a decade ago, Brühl’s prickly film combines a meta examination of movie stardom with a stark critique of rampant gentrification. The two-hander stars Brühl as an egotistical actor, also named Daniel, who stops into a local Berlin...

Who Is Hebe Beardsall from Geek Girl? Harry Potter Actress Stars in New Netflix Teen Drama - Main Image

Who is Hebe Beardsall in Geek Girl on Netflix? The blonde recruiter is part of the duo who turned Harriet Manners into a bona fide model for their runway show, but where else have we seen the actress before the teen drama series?

As a worker on Wilbur's side, Beardsall's character, Betty, plays a bigger part in the series than you realize.

Getting to Know Betty in Geek Girl

Hebe Beardsall is Betty in the eight-episode Netflix series Geek Girl. She's the short-haired blonde girl who always tags alongside Wilbur Evans (played by Emmanuel Imani) aka Harriet's agent and mentor in the fashion world.

Betty is Wilbur's meek assistant, righthand woman, and friend who helped him look for the 'perfect' model to add to their roster for the show.

Liza Weil, Douglas Smith and Noah Parker are set to star in the dark comedy feature Lunar Sway.

Nick Butler is writing and directing the movie that hails from Cloudy Pictures Inc., with development funding from the Canada Council for the Arts. Lucas Meeuse (The Legacy of Cloudy Falls) and Izad Etemadi (Cyrus and Chels) serve as producers, while Robin Cass (Lilies) executive produces.

Lunar Sway centers on Cliff (Parker), who is struggling with his love life in a desert town when he unexpectedly connects with his estranged birth mother (Weil). After learning of his mom’s string of secrets, Cliff is led on a wild misadventure while also spending time with his love interest Stew (Smith), a mysterious dentist.

The film is continuing the casting process and aims to begin shooting in September. Lunar Sway marks Butler’s sophomore directorial feature following The Legacy of Cloudy Falls, which is...

Caleb Carr, whose bestselling 1994 novel The Alienist made the author a household name who saw the book adapted into a 10-episode limited series on TNT, died of cancer Thursday at his home in Cherry Plains, New York. He was 68.

His death was announced by his brother Ethan Carr to The New York Times.

Carr was born on August 2, 1955, into a New York City family haunted by violence and abuse: His father was Lucien Carr, a Beat Generation journalist convicted of manslaughter for the 1944 killing of what today would be deemed a sexual predator. The fatal stabbing, which made headlines and history not least because Lucien’s friend and Columbia University classmate Jack Kerouac helped dispose of the knife, was depicted in the 2013 film Kill Your Darlings starring Daniel Radcliffe and Dane DeHaan.

Caleb Carr would later say that the incident, along his own childhood abuse at the hands of his father,...

Hannah Dakota Fanning, born February 23, 1994, is a well-known American actress. She is 5 feet 4 inches (162.6 cm) tall, the average height for an American woman, and wears a size 7 (US) shoe.

In other systems, her shoe size would be approximately 37 in European sizing, 5 in the UK, and 23.5 in the Japanese.

“I’m a shorter person, so I’ll see something and think, ‘That looks amazing!’ But that person is 6ft 1in. It’s going to look different on my 5ft 5in frame,” she told The Guardian about her average height in 2016.

Dakota Fanning in Staud x New Balance 327 “Sea Salt Atlantic” sneakers paired with a khaki vest and navy leggings makes her way to the gym on October 13, 2022, in Los Angeles, California (Credit: BauerGriffin / INSTARimages / Cover Images)

Early Beginnings: Dakota’s Rise to Fame

Her career took off at seven when she delivered an impressive performance as Lucy Dawson in the drama...

The recently released Sugar, starring Colin Farrell, was a modern rethinking of the noir genre with references to old cinema – and audiences fell in love with it. However, in the sixth episode, fans were treated to such a twist that it seemed that the showrunner had simply left at that moment, leaving ChatGPT to finish writing the plot.

If that unexpected twist ruined the magic of Sugar's noir for you, these five TV shows will restore your faith in the genre.

1. Perry Mason, 2020-2023

1930, Los Angeles. Private detective Perry Mason suffers from post-traumatic disorder and is going through a difficult divorce, so he often tries to ground himself with a bottle of alcohol.

One day, a lawyer comes to Mason with a bigger case – unknown persons have killed the baby of a local businessman. Much to his friend's surprise, Mason agrees to investigate. He soon realizes that he has become...

Have you ever watched It’s a Wonderful Life and wished that Frank Capra had paused to show us Clarence the Angel explaining to George Bailey how he was able to present him with the experience of a world in which he was never born?

Chances are good you haven’t — that you appreciate that the surest way to ruin whimsy is to “But actually…” it.

But if you have, indeed, yearned for a version of It’s a Wonderful Life in which “magic” was replaced by a literal black box and “joy and sadness and general wonderment” by “dejection and self-seriousness and general washed-out solemnity,” Apple TV+’s adaptation of Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter may be in your wheelhouse. It’s a series that doesn’t lack for ingenuity and, especially in the last two hours, ideas pop up that border on inspired, but the lack of tonal variation ultimately dooms Dark Matter.

One of the things that makes mystery and crime TV series so popular is the way the viewer usually solves the same mysteries that the main character does. Those who have watched through all the possible shows within this realm set in the modern day may want to take on yet another challenge and try to solve the crimes without having access to all the technology.

With no databases of DNA samples, no cell phone tracking and no Internet available for quick research, the detectives of the past centuries had to rely only on their deductive and interrogation skills to catch the criminals. Here are 8 shows with the best depictions of such work.

Miss Scarlet and the Duke (2020-...)

After the death of her father, Miss Scarlet finds herself in a bad financial situation. However, driven by the idea of helping others through her father's detective agency, she steps into...

“Shōgun” is looking to become the next “Game of Thrones” Emmy sensation thanks to its similar awe-inspiring world-building combined with political machinations and stunning performances. The FX series adapts James Clavell‘s 1975 historical novel of the same name. The story follows an English sailor (Cosmo Jarvis) who ends up shipwrecked in Japan while Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) uncovers secrets that could benefit him in the political wars to come as he tries to rule one of the five Regents in Japan.

Husband and wife duo Rachel Kondo and “Top Gun: Maverick” story writer Justin Marks oversee this spectacular mini-series, which is a comprehensive, historical study that transcends world-building to present compelling characters. The expansive cast all deliver career-best work while Kondo and Marks handle each plot thread smartly and expertly.

Here’s just a sampling of the rave reviews.

Kelly Lawler (USA Today) exclaimed: “Beautiful, rich and deeply compelling,...

“The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart” features a powerhouse performance from veteran star Sigourney Weaver, who once again reminds us that she is one of the best in the business. The acclaimed Amazon Prime Video limited series follows a young girl who survives a violent upbringing and is then subsequently raised on a flower farm by her grandmother. Weaver plays the grandmother, June, and ties the entire series together with the sheer might of her performance. She propelled the story to greatness and, as a result, propelled the series to excellent reviews.

Robert Lloyd (Los Angeles Times) opined: “The series, which is sensitively written, expertly performed by actors young and old, and beautifully shot, is in no rush to give up its mysteries, and by drawing out the drama, what’s obvious in the story comes off as proportionally more subtle.”

Chris Vognar (The Wrap) explained: “Weaver is the emotional...

Cannes TV trade fair MipTV may be its most boutique in recent years, but shows are coming onto the market – or screened at the parallel Canneseries TV festival which begins Friday – that will whet buyers’ appetites. Some roll of buzz from the London TV Screenings or Series Mania. Others are completely fresh, or pretty much off the radar.

To help you cut through the slates, here’s Variety’s picks of 20-plus shows:

“The Americas,” (NBCU, BBC Studios)

Narrated by Tom Hanks, his first unscripted narrator gig, and billed as an epic natural history series from “Planet Earth” producer BBC Studios Natural History Unit in association with Universal Television Alternative Studio. Scored by two-time Oscar winner Hans Zimmer and using groundbreaking technology to reveal the continent’s natural wonders. Previewed at MipTV, just how that worked will be unveiled at a fireside chat with NBCU’s Toby Gorman, president of...

If you loved the 1995 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith, and then the film adaptation by Anthony Minghella starring Matt Damon, Jude Law, and Gwyneth Paltrow, get ready for another adaptation of the story in Netflix’s upcoming psychological crime-thriller series titled Ripley.

Adapted for television by Steve Zaillian (The Night Of) is looking up to be a brilliant drama with memorable performances and striking visuals. Talking of visuals, before you head any further the upcoming series is completely in Black and white and while that might be a deterrent for some it could add to the story as it is a psychological thriller with complex and layered characters.

Ripley – Release Date & Episode Guide (When Is It Coming Out?) Credit – Netflix

Ripley is all set to premiere on Netflix on April 4, 2024. Ripley consists of eight episodes in total and all of them will be released simultaneously on the...

‘Superman & Lois’ has garnered praise as one of CW’s top superhero shows. Despite CW’s restructuring and cancelation of many projects, ‘Superman & Lois’ secured its season 4 renewal shortly before the season 3 finale. Although loosely connected to the Arrowverse, the show has distinguished itself from other CW superhero series, which have faced criticism in recent years.

Season 4 has been confirmed as the show’s final season, with reduced episodes, a smaller main cast, and a smaller writing team due to budget constraints. Despite these changes, an iconic character, Jimmy Olsen, is set to appear, with Douglas Smith cast in the role according to TVLine.

In the show, Jimmy is depicted as an outgoing young adult who is known for being the life of the party at work. Despite working closely with Clark, he struggles to break through Clark’s reserved demeanor. Unaware of Clark’s secret identity as Superman, Jimmy is determined to befriend him.

‘Superman & Lois’ is often touted as being one of the best CW’s superhero-based shows. This is why even following CW restructuring after many projects were written off, ‘Superman & Lois’ managed to score its season 4 renewal just weeks prior to the season 3 finale. Although unofficially a part of Arrowverse, the show managed to distance itself from other CW’s similar projects that were regarded as straight-up bad in the last few years, especially looking back at the disappointing Flash finale.

A few months ago it was confirmed that Season 4 would be the show’s last, even though the viewership remained steady, it wasn’t nearly enough to justify a high CGI budget. Season 4 is set to return with fewer episodes, with much of its main cast missing and a much smaller writers team. But the show must go on and so one iconic character will reportedly appear in the show.

Another iconic DC character is making tracks for The CW. Expected to premiere this fall, the fourth and final season of Superman & Lois will introduce Douglas Smith as Daily Planet photographer Jimmy Olsen, TVLine has learned exclusively.

Superman & Lois’ incarnation of Jimmy is an extroverted 20-something known for being the “life of the party” around the office. “Despite being work colleagues with Clark, he’s been unable to get him out of his ‘awkward’ shell,” according to Jimmy’s official description. “Unaware of Clark’s super-secret, Jimmy’s still determined to become his pal.”

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Lena Dunham’s Netflix comedy series “Too Much” has filled out its cast with a star-studded lineup, Variety has learned exclusively.

Joining previously announced series leads Megan Stalter and Will Sharpe will be: Richard E. Grant (“Saltburn”), Stephen Fry (“The Dropout”), Janicza Bravo (“Sharp Stick”), Michael Zegen (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), Rhea Perlman (“Cheers”), Rita Wilson (“Sleepless in Seattle”), Leo Reich (“Leo Reich: Literally Who Cares?!”), Adele Exarchopoulos (“Passages”), Adwoa Aboah (“Top Boy”), Daisy Bevan (“The Alienist”), Dean-Charles Chapman (“1917”), Kaori Momoi (“The Brightest Roof in the Universe”) and Prasanna Puwanarajah (“The Crown”). It is also confirmed that Emily Ratajkowski will appear in the series after Variety exclusively reported she was in final talks to join in early February.

The official description of the series states:

“Jessica (Stalter) is a New York workaholic in her mid-thirties, reeling from a broken relationship that she thought would last forever and slowly isolating everyone she knows.

One Life and Slow Horses director James Hawes thinks AI will be able to write whole TV shows in three to five years’ time. More on that below.

Another day, another scary AI story. Depending on who you ask, AI is either the biggest threat or a major opportunity when it comes to making art, whether it’s writing, film, TV, painting or photography.

The latest creative talent to offer their two cents on the AI zeitgeist is director James Hawes. Best known for his work in television with Slow Horses, Black Mirror and The Alienist, Hawes recently made his feature film debut with One Life, starring Anthony Hopkins – a film we were big fans of at Film Stories.

Deadline now reports that Hawes thinks we’re only a handful of years away from a TV show generated entirely by AI.

“The best guess was three to five years,” Hawes...

Oscar-winning director Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind) is currently in production on a new film, a survival thriller formerly known as Origin of the Species and now going by the title Eden, and The Hollywood Reporter has broken the news that the cast has been rounded out by Felix Kammerer (All Quiet on the Western Front), Toby Wallace (Babyteeth), Paul Gleeson (The Thin Red Line), Ignacio Gasparini (Como Hermanas), and Richard Roxburgh, whose previous credits include Moulin Rouge, Rake, Mission: Impossible II, Van Helsing, and Elvis.

Kammerer, Wallace, Gleeson, Gasparini, and Roxburgh join previously announced cast members Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning), Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria), Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes), Ana de Armas (Knives Out), and Daniel Bruhl (The Alienist). Kirby and Sweeney took over roles that were previously assigned to Alicia Vikander and Daisy Edgar-Jones.

Deadline notes that Eden is based on an unsolved mystery that unfolded on a...

Exclusive: Kristina Lauren Anderson, Remy Solomon and producer Natalie Krinsky are getting in business with Canada’s Blink49 Studios.

Anderson has been attached to write If We Were Villains, the drama series John Morayniss’ Blink49 is co-producing with Sex Education maker Eleven, while Solomon will adapt Marissa Stapley’s novel Things To Do When It’s Raining. Natalie Krinsky has signed a non-writing executive producer deal for the latter.

Anderson will be adapting M.L. Rio’s book, which is billed as a “hauntingly suspenseful novel that follows seven young Shakespearean actors at an elite college where competition is fierce, rivalry is dangerous, and the line between life and art is dangerously thin.” When tragedy strikes in their final year and one dies, the others are forced to prove to the police — and themselves — that they are blameless. The book has sold more than...

Oscar-winning director Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind) is planning to head into production on his latest film, a survival thriller formerly known as Origin of the Species and now going by the title Eden, at the end of November – and with just weeks to go before cameras start rolling, Howard has rounded out his lead cast with Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning) and Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria).

Kirby and Sweeney are taking over roles that were previously assigned to Alicia Vikander and Daisy Edgar-Jones. Their co-stars include Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes), Ana de Armas (Knives Out), and Daniel Bruhl (The Alienist). Howard had a solid cast put together before Vikander and Edgar-Jones dropped out, and the cast remains strong with Kirby and Sweeney as their replacements.

Deadline notes that Eden is based on an unsolved mystery that unfolded on a remote island in the Galapagos and charts the lengths...

“The Exorcist” is, rightfully, heralded as one of the greatest, scariest films of all time. And in the 50 years since its 1973 release, filmmakers have tried, repeatedly, to recapture the magic that made the original film so special, to mixed results.

The latest attempt is “The Exorcist: Believer,” from director David Gordon Green, which returns Ellen Burstyn to the franchise for the first time since 1973 and focuses on a new phenomenon – synchronized possession. It’s meant to be the first of a new trilogy of films. And its release (it’ll be on PVOD on October 24) is enough to have us look back at the entire franchise thus far. Which films are scary good and which are ones that you’d rather spider-walk down the stairs to get away from? Read on to find out.

Warner Bros.

7. “Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist” (2005)

How troubled was the “Exorcist” prequel movie? So troubled...

The Evolution Mallorca International Film Festival, running from October 18 to 24 in the Spanish island’s capital of Palma, has unveiled its full line-up.

The festival will open with Spanish director Isabel Coixet’s new feature Un Amor, which recently world premiered at San Sebastian.

Coixet will also be feted with the festival’s Evolution Vision Award at the opening night ceremony.

Other honorees will include German-Spanish actor Daniel Brühl, best known for his roles in Goodbye Lenin, Rush and The Alienist, and Danish writer and director Susanne Bier, whose recent credits include The Night Manager and The First Lady.

They will both receive Evolution Icon awards while there will also be screenings of Brühl’s most recent film The Movie Teller, as the closing film, and Rush and Bier’s 2010 feature In A Better World, which won the Best International Feature Film Oscar.

The 12th edition marks the festival’s...

A showrunners picket at Fox that started as a way to show solidarity during the strike ended up raising close to $45,000 for crew members who have been adversely affected by the work stoppage.

Strike Captain Amy Berg encouraged showrunners who attended the Sept. 12 picket to bring along gift cards so she could distribute them to support staff in need. More than 300 high-powered scribes, including Steve Levitan, Shawn Ryan, Aline Brosh-McKenna, Carlton Cuse, Rene Balcer, Jack Burditt, Mike Scully, Matt Selman, Andy Gordon, Tucker Cawley and David Shore, walked the line that day.

At today’s IATSE appreciation day at Fox, Berg distributed the gift cards to 115 people. She plans to mail more out this week to crew members.

“I was looking at all these amazing funds we have out there, but noticed that most require a long application process which can delay people getting the help they need,” Berg told Deadline. “I just thought, what could we do that offered immediate assistance?”

Those who participated in today’s IATSE appreciation picket received at least $150 word of cards to grocery stores and retail outlets like Target.

“Things everyone can use,” said Berg. “I basically started a nonprofit in one week, thanks to the generosity of my fellow showrunners.”

Showrunners have already contributed more than $500,000 recently to the Entertainment Community Fund. (Click for the showrunner donation link). Most of the donors have been anonymous.

There’s renewed optimism that the WGA and AMPTP can reach a deal now that both parties have agreed to meet tomorrow.

The WGA sent out a note to members confirming the talks: “The WGA and AMPTP now have a confirmed schedule to bargain this week, starting on Wednesday. You might not hear from us in the coming days while we are negotiating, but know that our focus is getting a fair deal for writers as soon as possible. We’ll reach out again when there is something of significance to report. In the meantime, please continue to demonstrate your commitment and unity by coming out to the picket lines – for yourselves and fellow writers, SAG-AFTRA, other unions’ members, and all those in our community who are impacted by the strikes.”...

Christina Hendricks (Mad Men) and Paddy Considine (House of the Dragon) will star in Small Town, Big Story, a new Sky original series created and directed by Chris O’Dowd (Moone Boy).

The six-part show focuses on an Irish village that gets taken over by a Hollywood production that throws the spotlight on an old secret.

“Every small town has a story to tell. Some don’t know how to keep a secret …,” reads a plot description, which promises “a warm and witty, very dramatic comedy.” It is set in the fictional town of Drumbán, “a rural village of rattled misfits on the border of Ireland and another world,” and explores “what happens when a Hollywood production rolls into town and throws the spotlight on a secret that’s been kept hidden since the eve of the millennium.”

Hendricks stars as Wendy Patterson, “a local girl done good as a hot-shot television producer,...